Abstract

We present theoretical and experimental performance analysis of 40 Gb/s
Non-Return-to-Zero (NRZ) All-Optical Wavelength Conversion (AOWC) using a
differentially-biased SOA-MZI. A frequency domain transfer function model
for both the standard single-control SOA-MZI-based AOWC and for the differentially-biased
SOA-MZI is analytically derived, exploiting first order perturbation theory
techniques and showing that only the differentially-biased scheme can yield
an almost flat low-pass filtering response enabling wavelength conversion
at 40 Gb/s. The theoretically obtained results are also confirmed through
experiments that demonstrate successful 40 Gb/s AOWC functionality for NRZ
data signals only when a differentially-biased SOA-MZI configuration is employed,
whereas an error-floor is obtained when 40 Gb/s NRZ AOWC with the standard
single-control SOA-MZI scheme is attempted. The 1.7 dB negative power penalty
obtained by the differentially-biased SOA-MZI architecture confirms its enhanced
regenerative properties and its potential for extending 40 Gb/s optical transparent
network dimensions by means of cascaded 2R AOWC stages.

References

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